In the food processing industry, various standards have been developed in an effort to protect against the contamination of the food supply. Food contamination can be microbial, environmental, or both with microorganism being the more common. Environmental contaminants that can enter the food supply chain include pesticides, heavy metals, and other chemical agents.
Due to the complexity of food processing, a multitude of opportunities exist for food to become tainted as it is prepared for consumption, especially refrigerated liquids that are used as additives in the process or are being transported as a finished food product.
The integrity of a food processing environment is based on the fundamental principles applied to any closed system design, whereby inputs and outputs are closely monitored for incidental and unforeseen contravention of the closed system that may give rise to the potential for the infiltration of bio-hazardous contamination. The breaching of the closed system may occur at a number of points in the system; however, the most common breaches are where the product is either introduced into the system or exits the system or where system components may interact with the product; e.g., valves or regulators.
With respect to the potential breach, due to a valve mechanism, the conventional valve used in the process system is designed to include a flow control member, either a gate or a ball, which directly interacts with the product and includes an associated stem/handle assembly that extends directly into the external ambient environment from the closed system, in other words, outside the closed system.
The conventional valve stem further includes a compliant sealing member, often referred to as a “packing gland” or O-ring, which provides for a slip joint for the stem to pass through, thereby placing a “sealed” barrier between the product being controlled and the outside environment.
However, the conventional sealing member does not necessarily provide a perfect or impervious seal, due to many factors such as the wear caused by the operating (continual rotation) of the valve handle. While the seal may prevent the product from passing therethrough, materials (contaminants) from the environment, having a minute molecular composition, can often pass by the seal, thereby compromising the quality of or contaminating the product.
The contamination may also be realized when there is a pressure differential between the processing system and the outside atmospheric pressure.
In addition, conduit lines leading into or out of processing chambers may be temperature controlled, and therefore, must include an insulating jacket there around, whereas fiberglass is most commonly used. Fiberglass insulation has a propensity to accumulate dirt, mold, and/or algae around where a valve stem passes through an opening in the insulation. This further perpetuates the potential penetration of environmental contaminants to come into direct contact with the product stream within the insulated conduits
Therefore, to mitigate this possible contamination, it would be desirable to provide a valve handle shroud system that provides a prophylactic shield between the insulation and the valve seal to further isolate contamination breeding within the insulation, as well as airborne particulates.
It would also be desirable to provide a device to prevent contamination from migrating into the product through the valve assembly.
Moreover, it would be desirable to provide a device to prevent contamination from migrating into the product through the valve assembly and be compliant with the movement of the handle used to actuate the valve.
Furthermore, it would be desirable to provide a device to prevent contamination from migrating into the product through the valve assembly and be impervious to the surrounding environment.